Is ambition really linked to spending?

toonsy

A sign of our transfer market ability
I find this notion that ambition is linked to spending kind of funny if truth be told.

Now admittedly not everyone believes it, but there is a fair proportion of fans out there who are wanting to see some decent money spent on one or maybe two positions. Either that or they want every deficiency in our squad addressed immediately.

In a way it’s nature of being a fan. We all want to see the best possible squad at NUFC but we all have differing ideas about how we go about it. It’s why places like this are good as it gives us a platform to debate things like this.

I just don’t buy into this whole “we must spend” mentality. Why? We have a team that is showing signs of clicking into gear and that, with a couple of astute additions, is verging on becoming a real force in the Premier League and capable of mounting a hunt for a European place.

The transfer policy we have at the minute is pretty good in my book. Any player that is brought in is carefully scouted to ensure that the likelihood of failure is reduced. How many players have we been disappointed by since we returned to the Premier League? Personally I find that a fair indication of the way we have conducted our business.

If only we showed ambition by signing players like Michael Owen, Damien Duff or Albert Luque again. Those were the days eh? I’m not saying that we should never ever splash out any kind of cash again, but if you look at where we are and what we’ve done I really don’t think you can knock the transfer policy we have in place.

Instead of being vilified, our policy should be lauded. If other teams want to splash cash then let them. We should only be concerned about NUFC and at this current moment in time we have some cracking players in our squad that were brought in for a fraction of what they should have cost.

Those players have got us to 7th in the table, and kept us there, yet there are still howls for more to be spent. We actually have a realistic shot of finishing in 7th too which is more that what can be said about the final years of the Shepherd regime. A realistic chance of one of our best league finishes in a decade isn’t good enough apparently. More more more.

For me the biggest question remains over our commitment to keep the players that we have now. I don’t doubt our ability to bring good players to this club and if they want to do it ‘cheaply’ then fair enough. I don’t look at a price tag on the pitch, I look at the player. Keeping them though is a different matter.

On the surface of it every singe sale that has happened has made sense. Andy Carroll went for silly money, Nolan wanted a deal that would take him into his mid-thirties, Barton had issues with the board and Jose wanted to go. They all made sense in hindsight and like it or not they all wanted to go for one reason or another, whether it be for more money, a longer deal, or for more ambition.

That’s gone now though, and seriously who can knock their replacements? As I said earlier though we need to stop the production line and let things grow for a bit on the ideal world, but if a huge money bid comes in for one of our players I’m more confident now that we’ll be able to replace them.

However cheaply they replacements may be viewed…

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

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154 thoughts on “Is ambition really linked to spending?”

  1. dave – have you not noticed i havent asked ” have we signed anyone yet”?? 😆

    i will only start asking you that again when branson takes over!!!

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  3. Army I have mate, hows the Cub doing mate meant to ask a cou[le of times.
    As for Branson can’t see him wanting us mate 😕

    Prem do Lyon not play in europe most years ?

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  5. ARMY on branson,any ****** thats daft enough too try and fly round the world twice in a air balloon could be daft enough to bye the toon,well maybe 😀 😀

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  7. DAVE kna still giveing me some welly 🙁 got a trapped nerve too,been for physio today,done nowt,back for injection in couple of days 🙁 ,fk sick

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  8. dave – the bairn is spot on hes 7 month on the 14th 😀 hes getting massive !! hes like a little sniper at the mo like 😆 😆 thanks for askn pal 😉

    icedog … if only eh haha

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  11. ” Mark from what I read and believe was that he wanted out because of broken promises and lack of ambition. I do agree that Santon so far in less than a handfull of games looks good, but I don’t think we can expect that to happen everytime that we have to replace our better players”

    Yes Big Dave. Imagine how good our defence would look with Enrique on the left, Santon on the right and Taylor and Colo in the middle.
    Unless fatty lumpkin is prepared to actually show ambition by trying to retain good players we’ll never know, as the Enriques and Colo’s will either be shipped out or want to leave.
    Shame really, cos as a back four goes, the one above would have been sensational.

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  14. trying to screw colo on his new contract shows ashley has no ambition for this club.
    but no doubt we will have stardy/toonpipes come on here saying it makes sense

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  16. Pootle@ exactly and ba and caroll up top or nolan goals from midfield as well as the quality we have . But we will never know because of the lack of ambition and profitering ❗

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  17. Army 😀 he must get his looks from his Mummy 😉 wee cutie, they’re brilliant at that age.

    Pootle yeah mate that would be a top defence right there 😉

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  18. Hitman the thing is if Colo goes some fans have allready made up their minds that Colo was trying to screw the club for too much money 😕

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  19. dave – hahaha your bluddy right there mate

    did i tell you im getting married next month ?? well if she wants to hear me click on a keyboard on the blog for the rest of her life then thats her choice 😆 😆 😆 😆

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  20. I woke up in the laundry basket this morning and mrs Stavers brought me a cup of tea and closed the lid again as if nowt was the matter.
    I found it so comfortable, I stayed there all day and wondered what reaction I would get from her when she came in from work.
    She came in and lifted the lid and spoke as if I was lying on the bed. She never batteredan eyelid.
    She then brought my tea up and I ate whilst in the basket and again she never asked why I was still lying in it.
    It’s now 10.50pm and she’s just shouted goodnight.
    I’m staying here like until she acknowledges that I’m mad! I’m fizzin! 😯

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  24. big dave,you just have to look back at renewing of contracts under ashley,there has always been problems.
    look at saylor placed on the fransfer list

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  25. I woke up in the laundry basket this morning and mrs Stavers brought me a cup of tea and closed the lid again as if nowt was the matter.
    I found it so comfortable, I stayed there all day and wondered what reaction I would get from her when she came in from work.
    She came in and lifted the lid and spoke as if I was lying on the bed. She never batteredan eyelid.
    She then brought my tea up and I ate whilst in the basket and again she never asked why I was still lying in it.
    It’s now 10.50pm and she’s just shouted goodnight.
    I’m staying here like until she acknowledges that I’m mad! I’m fizzin! 😯

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  26. @ hit man , exactly that’s what I don’t get some things are good and some bad ! But people on here think Ashley’s shi@e turns into Lionel messi .

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  28. If we had retained Enrique, or maybe bought Pieters (or similar) for the huge, ridiculous, extortionate price of around £6m and brought in a proven winger for a few million more than we paid for Obertan instead of an unproven youngster who has a history of confidence issues dating back to his time in France, perhaps we wouldn’t have slumped recently. Perhaps we would still be in the Champions League slots.

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  31. @Army69

    Your vid is a belta m8, it will get loads of hit. lovely little kid, keep him laughing it’ll make your life sweeter, best days of your life are just starting

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  34. Spot on Toonsy. Balance the books, sensible and well scouted signings. Buy cheap and sell high if you have to. Quite happy with things at the mo.

    On another note. If we have these decent youth players coming through like Streete, when is the right time to bring them into the fold? We need a centre half but probably not a first choice centre half so why not try one of the kids that have been “in the system” for a while now? Just a thought.

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  35. Troy atleast when your in there she is leaving you alone, and it could be worse you could be in a wheelie bin 😯 freezing your balls off.

    Army congrats mate real happy for you’s how long have you’s been together 😕

    Ice yeah mate I said this morn that he would be good company for Ranger 😆 they could have a shoot out 😀

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  36. Hitman .. depends how demanding Colo is .. and how much we can sell Tomkins for if we wanted to .. there will be no re-sale value at the end of the of the next colo contract, so that will be the initial transfer fee, the wage for the last 4 years and the next x years wage without any return .. clearly there is an intangible value to his contribution .. but comparing that with selling him now, using that fee to cover the cost of Tomkins, with a lower wage and re-sale value at the end of the initial contract might make sense .. dont worry MA will crunch the numbers and consider the contribution he makes verus that which Tomkins could make with pards+carr and we’ll get the answer ..

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  39. Pards needs to dye his eyebrows jet black and a jet black moustache! His credibility would soar!

    Mind his would sore. 😯

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  41. Big dave. Aye lyon do despite selling benzema etc. Thats their approach, and is the closest to what we are trying to do.

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  45. Prem I think teams being able to offer euro footie are a bigger draw and always will be as most players want euro footie,
    We cant offer that and don’t know when we will be able to 😕

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  50. True. That is the catch 22 we are in. We need Euro standard players, but cannot offer euro football. And with 6 clubs willing to outspend us we will have to overperform.

    I think that 52k crowds counts. And if we can limit our losses to 1 major player per window, we may just do it. We just managed with sir bobby. Spurs are on the cusp. And now we have Pards & Carr.

    I think we have the ambition to compete, and I think we may just have a top 6 or a trip to wembley this year

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  52. There’s an easy way to test the link between spending and ambition.
    Jabba should spend nothing at all on anything for five years, not even the leccy bill.
    If the fervent dreamers are right we might win the league anyway.

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  53. Alternatively we could spend £50 each on say 4 pllayers, still win nowt and and end up in League one for a few years.

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  55. @Premandup

    Now hey! These are gibberish words you are stringing together to form sentences that don’t make sense.
    Behave yourself and put your passport away.

    We don’t spend enough to be ambitious.

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  58. Whoa, pause a mo and think about the tale of the hare and the tortoise. One sped of and the other tooks its time and passed the hare which was exhaused, and won the race.
    Now, think of ambition and spend – isn’t about the quality of the spend? Financial control and long-term ambition = long term gain.
    Just a thought

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  59. @Hitman

    Resale value is when the player moves to another club at the end of his contract and it’s the value of him at that point.

    Anything else, just ask. 😯

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  60. @Hitman

    You say you are not thinking of profit but to actually write the word makes you think of it so I think that’s not quite true is it. 😯

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  62. Troy. Stay in your basket until you have the courage to climb out and enjoy life instead of thinking that cynical ignorance equals cleaver and realism.

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  66. Wooo hoo hoo hoo!

    It took a while but I got the nibble.

    Laters gaters. Keep dreaming. 😛

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  69. Wow. Sorry about last night. I’ve just googled my symptoms and I’ve got basket fever. A fever caught by inhaling used underwear over long periods. I’m staying here though until mrs Stavers acknowledges my behaviour is not normal! 😯
    It’s the fact that she thinks this is normal for me is worrying. 😯

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  70. Just tried to read that QPR article, what a load of waffle. I pretty much skipped the rest of the article after talking about Keegans 4th or 5th coming, then tried to read the Newcastle fan interview…then left the page after he said ‘ This isn’t popular opinion but I don’t see what Chieck Tiote offers the team. He’s too negative (I’m pretty sure he’s never played a forward pass) and too often he is booked early which makes him a passenger.’ What utter gash.

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  71. @troy , she will say nowt she will be happy you are out of the way 😛
    lesh@133 , but every time the tortoise took the lead did its owner chop one of its legs of !!!
    toonpipes@111 , thats why i struggle to listen to views like yours , do you work for nufc in finances or are you a football fan !
    Who cares about re-sale value !! colo is the best player at the club .
    That is the reason right there why we wont go anywhere under MA ! :mrgreen:

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  72. “Never has an appointment of a manager who wasn’t Gary Megson been met with such revulsion by a set of supporters”…best bit of the article 😆

    Sorry don’t remember who mentioned re-sale value, but if they enforce the fairplay rules(they probably won’t,but if they did) then wouldn’t players wages(in theory) have to come down so clubs could “live with in their means”?, that being the case, players and agents will look to top up their pay in other ways, they’ll do this by running down their contracts, which clubs can do absolutely nowt about, then get a nice juicy signing on fee to supplement the wages.
    Therefore “sell on value” will become a thing of the past.
    Why do people keep mentioning the expensive flops? back then we barely scouted a player we just bought them on reputation, if you’re using past failures in an arguement against spending “reasonable” cash on good players, then are you saying you don’t trust the scouting system we have in place now?…just a thought 😉

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  74. just have look at how spurs were 5 years ago mainly all young players they got in and worked from there got uefa cup after few season now look how they are now

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  75. Keith@146, …..”but every time the tortoise took the lead did its owner chop one of its legs of !!!”

    ….absolutely bang on mate!!!

    Rodzilla’s Final Thought:

    The issue here that always stirs up a **** storm, is people referring to each other as ‘realists’ and ‘dreamers’. I think it’s more about ‘patience’ and ‘impatience’. Both sets of fans are ‘realistic’, and both sets have valid arguments.

    The ‘impatient’ fans (myself included) keep seeing the club taking 2 steps forward, one step back and get understandably pissed off; whereas the ‘patient’ fans are happy for us to slowly build, selling the odd top player here and there.

    Neither group is ‘wrong’ per se. Both are ‘realistic’.

    The ‘wrong’ ones are from the ‘unrealistic’ groups, and take on two guises – the ‘Wolfies’ or the ‘rose-tinted’ fans who expect Fatty to always make the right decisions, and never make mistakes, and the ‘twice shy and unforgiving’ fans who will never trust Fatty again after experiencing the errors of his ways, and expect him to **** everything up.

    Like I said, I’m ‘realistic’, but also impatient.

    ….anyway, I realise there’s a new post up so I’m off there.
    Bit disappointed I missed this thread now, but I’m sure there’ll be others.

    Keep the Faith! 😎

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